Homemade Granola Bars

A while back my friend Susan had mentioned that she had a recipe for homemade granola bars. Since I am not much of a baker, I never thought it would be something I would ever want to make, and so I never bothered to get the recipe. I had forgotten all about it until recently, when I was talking to her about the changes I wanted to make in our diets, and how I was looking at more ways to cut out processed foods. She mentioned the recipe again and the next time I brought the boys over to play she had made a batch! They were delicious. I told her that she needed to send me the recipe so that I could try them out myself.

What You Need:

2 cups rolled oats
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup wheat germ
3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 cup all-purpose flour
3/4 cup raisins (optional)
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup honey
1 egg, beaten
1/2 cup vegetable oil
2 teaspoons vanilla extract

The Steps:
1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Generously grease a 9x13 inch baking pan.

2. In a large bowl, mix together the oats, brown sugar, wheat germ, cinnamon, flour, raisins and salt.





Make a well in the center, and pour in the honey, egg, oil and vanilla.



Mix well using your hands. Pat the mixture evenly into the prepared pan.


3. Bake for 30 to 35 minutes in the preheated oven, until the bars begin to turn golden at the edges. Cool for 5 minutes, then cut into bars while still warm. Do not allow the bars to cool completely before cutting, or they will be too hard to cut.

The Verdict:
AMAZING! Really, they are so good. Per Susan's recommendations, I followed the tips in the first set of comments:

This recipe is really great, but I have some changes that can make it near perfect. I used whole wheat flour instead of all-purpose flour, canola oil in place of vegetable oil, and I reduce the brown sugar to 1/2 cup and they are still super sweet, and even down to 1/3 cup and they're still yummy. For flavor I always use 1 tsp. of cinnamon and a whole cup of raisins. To make them chewy still use a 9x13 pan but don't spread the mixture into the entire pan- leave about an inch and a half empty space on one end. (The batter will cook exactly as it sits so you don't have to worry about it spreading. Also, you must be careful not to overcook these. Thirty minutes is way too long, but since every oven is different I can only really tell you that you need to take them out right when you see the edges becoming brown (the middle may still appear undone.) For me that is 18 minutes. If you do that they will stay chewy forever--just store them in a ziploc bag. And my last bit of advice is that you can get really creative with this recipe. For example, instead of raisins add dried cranberries and slivered almonds. Or up the cinnamon and add chopped dried apples. Or you could add peanut butter and freeze dried banana bits (like you find in the toddler section). Or you could play around with some canned pumpkin and pumpkin pie spice. Just have fun!

I used the 1/3 cup of sugar, whole wheat flour, canola oil (with 1 tablespoon of Flax Oil added in), and the full tsp of cinnamon. I also substituted the raisins for chocolate chips. The first time I made them I also added some dried cranberries. Next time I am thinking about trying the peanut butter. They really are versatile and the best part is that since they are homemade, you control the ingredients.



As you can see from the picture above, I overcooked them the first time. The second time I took them out of my oven after 20 minutes and they were PERFECT! The boys can't get enough of them! Even the Doc is a fan!

Ready for the taste test!


All gone!